Bolivian President’s Plane Reportedly Diverts After Claims Snowden May Be On Board

There are reports tonight thatEdward Snowden may be on a plane with Evo Morales, the president of Bolivia, and as a result, the plane was reportedly diverted and is now on its way to Vienna. Bolivia had previously considered granting asylum to the NSA whistleblower, but the government is now denying that Snowden is aboard Morales’ plane.

According to The Guardian, France and Portugal supposedly withdrew permission for the plane to travel over their airspace. The plane diverting course traveling back from Russia led to some speculation that Snowden may be on board, an account that is being vigorously denied.

The Bolivian foreign minister, David Choquehuanca, denied that Snowden was on board. “We don’t know who invented this lie. We want to denounce to the international community this injustice with the plane of President Evo Morales,” he said, in comments reported by Associated Press…

Choquehuanca told reporters that Portugal and France had abruptly cancelled air permits. “They say it was due to technical issues, but after getting explanations from some authorities we found that there appeared to be some unfounded suspicions that Mr Snowden was on the plane.”